Judy Holliday

An only child, she was the daughter of Abraham (1893-1958), born in New York, and Helen (née Gollomb) Tuvim (1885-1973), born in Russia. She was the paternal granddaughter of Russian immigrants David (1865-1937) and Sarah (née Abramowitz) Tuvim (1870-1952) and the maternal granddaughter of Julius (1860-1903) and Rose (née Brass) Gollomb (1864-1947), also born in Russia. She was the niece of writer Joseph Gollomb.

Judy Holliday was born Judith Tuvim in New York City on June 21, 1921. Her mother, a piano teacher, was attending a play when she went into labor and made it to the hospital just in time. Judy was an only child. By the age of four, her mother had her enrolled in ballet school which fostered a life-long interest in show business. Two years later her parents divorced. In high school, Judy began to develop an interest in theater. She appeared in several high school plays. After graduation, she got a job in the Orson Welles Mercury Theater as a switchboard operator. Judy worked her way on the stage with appearance in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D. C. and New York City. Judy toured on the nightclub circuit with a group called "The Revuers" founded by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

Until the age of six she lived at 251 E. 108th Street in Manhattan, New York. After her parents divorced she and her mother moved to 39-45 44th Street in Sunnyside, Queens, New York.

She went to Hollywood to make her first foray into the film world in Greenwich Village (1944). Most of her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.

Disappointed, but not discouraged, Judy earned two more roles that year in Something for the Boys (1944) and Winged Victory (1944). In the latter, Judy had a few lines of dialogue. Judy returned to New York to continue her stage career.

She returned to Hollywood after five years to appear in Adam's Rib (1949) as Doris Attinger opposite screen greats Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Tom Ewell.

With her success in that role, Judy was signed to play Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (1950), a role which she originated on Broadway. She was nominated for and won the best actress Oscar for her performance.

Was the 35th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Born Yesterday (1950) at The 23rd Academy Awards on March 29, 1951.

After filming The Marrying Kind (1952), Judy was summoned before the Un-American Activities Committee to testify about her political affiliations. Fortunately for her, she was not blacklisted as were many of her counterparts, but damage was done. Her film career was curtailed somewhat, but rebounded. She continued with her stage and musical efforts, but with limited time on the screen.

Returned to work six months after giving birth to her son Jonathan Oppenheim to begin filming It Should Happen to You (1954).

Was originally cast as Ruth Sherwood in My Sister Eileen (1955) but due to contract disputes she was replaced by Betty Garrett.

After filming The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), she was off-screen for four years.

Won Broadway's 1957 Tony Award as best actress in a musical for Bells Are Ringing, a role that she recreated in the film version of Bells Are Ringing (1960).

Her last film was the MGM production of Bells Are Ringing (1960) with Dean Martin and it was one of her best.

Following her divorce, she became involved with jazz musician Gerry Mulligan. After learning she had breast cancer, she stopped filming and began writing songs with him. He wrote the music and she wrote the lyrics. Some of these songs appear on the album "Holliday With Mulligan", which they recorded together in 1961. It was not released until 1980, 15 years after Holliday's death.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 217-218. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. [1999]

In 2006 her performance as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (1950) was ranked #96 on "Premiere Magazine"'s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

Her son became a documentary film editor before passing away in 2020.